The Case in the Mind Over Matter
by SuGaRnSpIcE4222
Summary: "I made a mistake..." she cried, sobs wrenching at her chest. She had only one way to fix that mistake. Sixteen years later, he has to face it, too. Will he win her back? Or was her solution a more permannet one? Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Sixteen Years Earlier

"_I made a mistake, I missed my chance" Her heart swelled, chest tightened, and her sobs filled the air. _

_He turned to face, for once in his life at a loss for words with his partner. He'd been able to solve every problem in her life. Until now. Things were complicated, now. He was with someone else, and he loved her. But he'd always waited for Bones to finally be ready for their moment. Why now? Why not seven months ago before they'd ever left? Before he was…stuck. _

"_I need to go," Brennan choked back another sob and tugged at the door handle to Booth's SUV door. _

_Booth reached over and grabbed her hand, placing it back on her lap. "Bones, no, relax, okay," he commanded in a firm but gentle tone. She was starting to scare him; he'd never seen her so unwound before. Temperance Brennan was wearing her heart on her sleeve; Temperance Brennan never wore her heart for others to see. She wasn't cold hearted by any means, but the walls surrounding her heart, her emotions, he was sometimes sure were broader and taller than the Great Wall of China. And even that had fallen before her the walls around the good doctor's heart. _

"_Booth I need to go!" Urgency filled the brunette's voice and at the next red light she pushed the door to the SUV open. She didn't quite understand these emotions that she felt; alone for the very first time in her life. Solitude had never bothered her before this case, before she realized from a bystander's point of view what her life looked like from the outside. It was not appealing by any means. _

_Booth reached over and tugged the door closed again. This time he tapped the child lock button down so she couldn't open the door. There was no way he was letting her out alone, not in this frame of mind. It was his job to protect her, even if he didn't quite know how to protect her from her own feelings. _

"_Booth!" Brennan's voice grew angry, impatient. She had never been a patient woman. She swallowed hard as Booth slowed to a stop in front of her apartment building. The safety of her apartment was only a few floors up. She tapped her fingers anxiously against the leather doorframe of the familiar black SUV, watching from the corner of her eye as Booth slid from his seat and walked to the other side of the vehicle to let her out. _

_Cold air and thick droplets of rain met her skin when Booth opened the door. He'd escort her upstairs to her apartment, try and talk to her. Brennan wasn't an unintelligent woman; she knew her partner, she knew his next move. She just had to make sure that that wouldn't happen. She wanted to be alone. Away from him. For the first time in a long time she was thinking with her heart instead of her logic, and she knew she had a lot of reflection on her life to do. What was next? Was she happy? Could she continue like this? _

_Temperance looked up at Booth when she felt his hand slide around her forearm. The familiar grip was tighter and more secure than she ever remembered it being. She avoided looking in his eyes, lowering her gaze to the wet and dirty crème colored sidewalk. _

"_It's alright… I gotcha… I gotcha Bones," Booth whispered against her hair, walking as if to hold her up. As if he thought she might fall then and there. _

_Brennan quickly took back control of the situation, yanking her arm from his grip despite the nagging feeling in her chest that wanted to be by him, to get as close to him as she possibly could. She straightened herself and smoothed out her long, solid brown skirt and tugged her jacket closed over her chest as a minor shield from the pouring rain. "Goodnight, Booth." _

"_Whoa, Bones, hold on a minute here. I'm not leavin' you alone tonight. No way." _

"_I find that I'd like to be alone tonight, Booth." Clinical Brennan slipped past emotional Brennan faster than the speed of lightening. _

"_Well then I'll sleep on the couch," Booth insisted, breaking into a half jog to catch up to his partner. _

"_Logically speaking, that would mean I am not alone. In order for me to be alone, I'd need to be in my apartment without any other person there," Brennan explained, turning to meet his gaze. _

_Booth inwardly smiled; no matter what was going, Brennan was first and foremost a teacher. It gave him a flicker of hope that Brennan would be okay in the morning, and that this little mental break she was having was just a tough day in the lab working on a difficult case. He'd already lost his partner once… he couldn't do it again. "Alright, Bones, but I'm callin' to make sure you're okay, and you'd better pick up the phone." _

_Brennan scoffed at the command in his voice and rolled her eyes. "Yes Booth, I will." She glanced back up at him, letting her gaze linger for a moment before turning around and walking in the direction of her apartment building. _

_Temperance pulled the keys out of her pocket, readying them for when she hit her apartment door. A new feeling was nagging at her now, a new but also familiar feeling. She wanted to run, to escape. After all, it was in her blood. She pictured herself on a plane in first class, eyes straight ahead, departing for some foreign country that could possibly hold the key to the origins of mankind. She pictured leaving for the Maluku Islands; she wouldn't feel as depressed as she had then. She'd feel relieved. She'd feel… fresh. Yes, like she had a fresh start. _

_She flipped open her phone and leaned against the front door to her apartment. In a rash decision void of all logic, Temperance Brennan decided to do it: to just leave and get away. _

Present

It had been a normal day for Special Agent Seeley Booth; he had just finished up a case, thanks again to the Squints at the Jeffersonian, and he was ignoring paper work in favor of kicking back in his office and relaxing, when he got the call from Hacker. More trouble in suburbia; Booth thought back to the murder he and Bones had solved in the suburbs, all over a windmill. He had to smile at the memory.

"…The file's on its way to you now, Booth. Solve it, quick and clean. You know how I like it."

'Yeah, I know,' Booth thought to himself. That didn't always mean he did things Hacker's way. Against the crowd, against authority. That was Booth's way.

Special Agent Seeley Booth stepped up to the two story white home. It was a white picket fence home if he ever saw one in his life, and absolutely everything he would never expect to see in this situation. Not in _her_ case. He looked down; his palms were dripping with sticky sweat, and his chest was tight with the familiar fear he felt when they were working together sixteen years ago. Each case new, each threat new, each danger different, each fears the same sickening feeling.

Booth gulped down the lump in his throat as stared down at the file that had been delivered to him. Never in a million years did he think that _she_ would be his next case. He reread the file quickly and thoroughly; this case was special. Not that the others weren't. But this case involved somebody he once loved. Somebody he still loved.

Former Special Agent Tim Sullivan, last seen leaving his restaurant at 10 p.m. He never showed up at home. Still unaccounted for.

Dr. Temperance Brennan-Sullivan, eight months pregnant, found beaten and unconscious in the living room of her home. Rushed to Mercy General and admitted to the ICU.

Sixteen year old Ally Kirsten Brennan-Sullivan, found shot and left for dead in her bedroom. Also rushed to Mercy General. Update: Has undergone surgery for internal injuries and is reported awake and coherent in ICU.

Five year old Kyle Timothy Brennan-Sullivan, found hiding in the cupboards of the kitchen in the family home; delivered to Social Services by First on Scene Deputy Michael Vandell.

Booth knew the history here; Brennan had run into Sully traveling to one of her digs. They'd reconnected. She wasn't going to miss her chance, not again. She followed him back to the States. They were married and nine months later had their first child, Ally. It still bothered him that Brennan had a child by another man.

He chewed on his lower lip and took a deep breath. He had an investigation to conduct here.

"Seeley, you alright?" The woman's voice behind him was recognizable. He turned and smiled at Cam. "Hey, yeah me? Yeah fine, why?"

"Because you look like you just met Casper, and he wasn't so friendly."

Booth swallowed again, shoving his sweaty palms in his pockets. "Yeah, I'm fine Cam. Find anything?" He had a way of switching topics to the case to avoid answering questions. He'd learned his evasiveness from Bones.

Cam shook her head. "Not much. Some blood and tissue samples, but no real evidence. Cop says the neighbor called in a disturbance at 2 a.m. and that's why he decided to show up. No one saw anything or heard anything else. No tire tracks found in the drive way, nothing."

"Any idea who called it in?"

"Doris Henley, she lives two houses down. Neighbors call her the nosy cat lady."

"Figures," Booth muttered and looked down. "Alright well do what you Squints do and let's get it back to the lab then. I'm going to go visit the daughter at the hospital."

"Ally, Booth."

"Huh?" Booth blinked and turned back to face Cam.

"Ally, her name is Ally. She's not just 'the daughter'. You and I both know this case is personal, for all of us."

"Yeah, Cam, I meant Ally, alright?" Booth snapped a little. He didn't mean to, of course. But she was right. The case *was* personal for him. And the fact that he was going to visit Bones' daughter—with another man—was putting him a little on edge. He'd love the girl, he knew he would. But he wouldn't love the fact that she wasn't *his*.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey guys! Thanks for all that put my story on alert, and for the review. They all mean a lot to me, and make me want to continue on with the story! To answer everyone's dying question: Yes, I am well aware that half the BONES community probably hates me at the moment, for placing her with Sully. But, I had to stay in character with Temperance, and she is not generally a forth coming person as far as her feelings go. In fact, I have a feeling Thursday will be the first time we really get an inside to her true feelings, all walls down. That being said, I put her with Sully for the very fact that they have history, and she trusted him. Comments that are bashing the story just because of who Booth/Brennan is with *will* be deleted. I love constructive criticism, and welcome it with open arms, but bashing someone's story because your favorite couple is not together at the moment is NOT constructive. It's rude. So, if, after all that, you're all willing to continue reading, I would absolutely love for you to do so! :D _

Booth leaned against the cool glass window of Mercy General's ICU room 10. He folded his arms across his chest, and for a moment just allowed himself to peer inside the room at the young girl assigned there. For a moment he smiled; if he ever had to, this was what he'd guess Bones had looked like as a teenager. Even with all the wires and layers of blankets engulfing her, Booth could tell she was slender. Her mother's figure, he guessed. She had wavy brown hair, which, in all fairness, could be part Sully too. The girl was awake, her eyes darting lazily around the room. In that instant Booth could tell she had Brennan's charismatic blue eyes. The same blue eyes that originally drew him to her—aside from the whole devastatingly beautiful factor.

She caught him staring in a second and tried to push herself forward on her elbows, but she was too weak and too tired from the blood loss coupled with the surgery. Who was the guy? He looked… professional. Cop-like. But he was wearing that dorky tie and that ridiculous red belt buckle. What did it say? She squinted, making out the word 'cocky'. He didn't look so cocky to her.

Booth caught her attention and smiled, nodding his head to the door as if to ask for permission to enter. He watched her nod and then entered the room. "Hi there, Ally. I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"You came," Ally smiled invitingly. As much of a dork as he looked like, he _came_.

"What do you mean?" Booth stopped in his tracks, figuratively floored by her comment. She had never even met him! Had she been speaking in general? As if she hadn't expected him—the cops—to come to the rescue?

"My mom spoke of you before. The way she spoke of you… I knew you'd come one day. At the house…" Ally swallowed back the cottony feeling in her mouth from those damn pain meds. "… She mentioned you. She said you would come." She yawned a bit and laid her head back against the pillow. Ally's eyes were drooping shut and she could physically feel the exhaustion taking over. Her body was becoming dead weight against the bed.

It took Booth a moment to register all the was going on after the young woman's revelation. Bones had been wanting *him*. Him, after all those years. She still relied on his instinct to protect her. She still *trusted* him? When his brain allowed the FBI Agent in him to take back over he softened his gaze over Ally. "Ally, I need you to stay awake and answer some questions for me. Can you do that, Ally? It would really help us find out what happened to your mom and dad."

"How are they?" Ally questioned in a low whisper.

"Your moms here… she's a few rooms down," Booth responded, leaving all the negative out. The way the girl looked, he didn't have the heart to tell her right now that her mom was fighting for her life. And another part of him, the part supporting his heart, knew he didn't have the courage to utter those words.

"Dad? Kyle?"

"We're workin on lookin for your dad, don't you worry, and we'll bring him home. Your brother is okay. He's somewhere safe now."

Ally slowly nodded her head and finally allowed her eyes to droop closed. Her breathing picked up, growing louder and evening out into a patterned rhythm; she was asleep.

"Al-" Booth stopped himself with a sigh. He didn't have the heart to wake her up… it'd be too much like waking up Bones. And he'd never have been able to wake up a soundly sleeping sick Bones. "Okay Little Bones, you sleep tight for now. I'll hang out until you're awake and ready to talk," he said. But what he really meant to say was 'I'll stay and keep you safe until your mother can do it.'

"So wait, what exactly did you get out of her, Seeley?" Cam asked, hand on hip.

"Well… exactly? Nothing." Booth responded, plastering an innocent smile to his face. "She fell asleep. I couldn't get a thing out of her."

"People in the hospital tend to do that, yes, Seeley," Cam added with a coy smirk. "Did you see Dr. Brennan?"

Booth shook his head. He'd wanted to; he'd desperately wanted to, but there were doctors and nurses in and out of her room, and he hadn't been given the chance to slip in unnoticed. Normally he'd merely pull the FBI trick from up his sleeve, but there weren't many answers he'd be able to get from a woman who wasn't even conscious. "No, not yet. She's still family only until she wakes up," he explained.

Cam nodded. "What about the little boy? Kyle?"

"I haven't gone to see him yet," Booth said with a little agitation in his voice. Clearly he hadn't been gone long enough to have stayed with Ally in the hospital, and go visit the little boy.

"Yeah well, no matter what, he's not staying in foster care," Angela stepped in. Her dress flowed just past her knees, where the ends of the dress met the beginnings of her brown leather boots. "Neither of them is."

"Ange…?" Hodgins glanced over at his wife. He'd have given her a confused look, but he knew where she was coming from. No matter what, Bones was still Angela's best friend. They may not have spoken often, if at all, and they may've led different lives now, but Brennan would always be Anegla's 'Sweetie'. That was how it worked with Angela; she would always be loyal to her friends.

"Bren would never let them go into foster care. Ever. I know her, and she would do everything in her willpower to keep them out of the system. She had to have left something behind; a paper, a document, something that said where she wanted her kids to end up if something happened to her. She's smart, and she's had experience with the system. No way would she be unprepared for something like this."

"She's right," Hodgins spoke up. "No way would Dr. B., let her kids fall into the system. Uh uh, no. She'd rather see things in an illogical way."

Booth gave this thought; the guy may've been a conspiracy theorist, but he had a valid point. "Alright so what're you thinking? You want me to take the kids?"

"What? Hah, no. The last thing we need is for Bren coming home to her kids wearing funky socks and cocky belt buckles. No, I was thinking more along the lines of Hodgins and I could take them."

"Oh yeah, sure, because sending her kids home as conspiracy theorists would be a whole lot better," Booth retaliated.

"Hey, at least my theories are scientific. What're yours, James Bond?"

"Hey, hey, guys. Can we at least try to keep this professional?" Cam intercepted just as Booth opened his mouth to respond.

"Yeah, right, fine. I'm gonna get back out there; see if my people have gotten any leads on anything. You squints just do what you do best here."

"I'll run the lab here, thanks," Cam muttered at his… cockiness.

Booth rolled his eyes and shrugged his jacket back on before heading out of the lab. He had a few phone calls to make and then he was going to visit his people. And they'd better have a lead or two to follow by now…


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys! Thank you again for the reviews! They rock and make me want to continue updating! I know a few of you are a little confused as to why everyone is where they are. I guarantee that by the end of the story, you'll not be confused anymore. Real quick, to clear it up, I do want to mention that Booth is still with the squints because, logically, most law enforcement agents do tend to stay with the same jobs because of their retirement and pensions. To me, it only made sense to keep him in D.C. with the squints, especially given the fact that I could not see him leaving his son, Parker again. Keep in mind, Brennan is the one who left. Booth's only remaining friends are the squints =P _

"Ally?" The next time the young girl opened her eyes it was late evening, and the warm rays of the retreating sun filtered into her hospital room with hues of tender oranges and reds and yellows. She yawned and lifted her head a bit, glanced around through cracked eyes, and then let her head fall against the pillow again.

"Ally, can you hear me?" The voice spoke again, and Ally turned her head to the right where she thought it might be coming from. She was correct; she squinted only to see a familiar looking man hovering over her bedside. "Heyy welcome back," the man greeted warmly, patting her shoulder gently. "Do you remember me visiting you earlier?"

"Barely," Ally groaned, tugging the hospital sheets up over her face to block out the sun. She yawned again and slowly let her eyes tug fully open. "Sorry. I was a little out of it earlier."

Booth nodded his head and pulled a chair up to him, dropping down onto it. He crossed his legs and his pant cuffs tugged up to reveal his usual funky socks. Ally noted how awkward it was for an agent to wear such socks at work, but shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

"It's alright," Booth responded in a gentle tone, barely above a whisper. "How're you feeling now? A little more together?"

Ally slowly nodded her head and rolled so her left arm was underneath her, propping herself up so she could be closer to eye level with him. "Yeah," she said aloud. "A lot more together. Could you…?" she nodded her head towards the bedside tray. There was a pink plastic pitcher of water, and Booth caught on immediately.

"Yeah, sure, sure," he nodded, reaching over. He grabbed the pitcher and poured a little water into one of the Styrofoam cups, plucked a straw up from beside the place of the pitcher, and held the ready-made water up for Ally to sip on. She took small, even sips, swallowed slowly, and then smiled.

"Thanks," she added gratefully and leaned back down. "So I guess you wanna talk, right? I'll tell you all that I remember."

"Yeah that'd be helpful," Booth smiled; she was brave like her mother. He settled back in the chair to listen, keeping his eyes intently on her. Instinctively, he felt protective over her; like he had to keep her safe. Silently, he vowed that if she showed any outward signs of discomfort or upset that he would cease all questioning immediately. This was Bones' kid, after-all. He had to protect her.

Ally swallowed back a lump in her throat and nodded to signify she'd begin. Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she let her memory take over as best it could. "I… I was upstairs in my room studying for my chem., test tomorrow. I was up way past when I should've been in bed but I'd been screwing around on the internet the night before and didn't get much studying in, so I knew I needed to stay up late to get it done. But mom would've insisted I go to bed, because logically I would need to be as well rested as well as well versed with the material in order to pass the test, so I kept my light off so mom wouldn't know I was up."

"Your mom was up?" That was no surprise to Booth; Bones has often put in all nighters to crack their cases, and sometimes merely to hang out with him. "How do you know?"

"Because I heard her downstairs in the kitchen making something to eat. I don't know what; lately she's been eating a whole bunch of weird food combinations because of the pregnancy."

Booth smiled at that; he would have killed to see his Bones pregnant. Wait… did he just think of her as 'his' Bones? Yeah. He did. He returned his gaze back up to hers, locking eyes with her. 'Focus, Booth, focus.'

"….then I heard mom scream. She yelled and I heard a guy's voice telling her to shut up but she kept yelling. I heard a crash, like a vase or bowl smashing against the ground and I got up to go see what was going on, I got half way to the kitchen, and I could see mom through the light of the kitchen, but everything else was dark. I started to run for her…she was saying something… I don't remember what…" She swallowed hard, and Booth could tell she was holding back tears. Her eyes were moist and glistening as she thought back. "I tried to get past him, the man I heard, so I could go to my mom and see she was alright, but... he, that guy… he was so much stronger than me. I thought he was going to snap my arms the way he yanked on me."

"What happened next?" Booth hedged gently. "Do you remember?"

Ally shook her head. "No. I think he brought me upstairs, back to my room, and I think that's when he shot me."

"How do you know he shot you?" Booth asked; he hated to bring it up, but he had to cover all his bases.

"Because I remember the way his gun felt against my body," Ally said as if it were simple. "I don't ever want to feel like that again," she responded softly, bitterly. Tears threatened to fall, and Ally wiped at her eye and turned her head away from Booth. She felt his large hand on her shoulder and slowly tugged back.

"We can take a minute if you need it," Booth told her. "Just take your time."

Ally shook her head and wiped at her face once more before turning again to look at Booth. "No, it's okay. Keep asking the questions."

Booth slowly nodded, and against his better judgment, kept on. "Do you remember anything about the guy that came to your room? Anything at all? Even the sound of his voice would help us, Ally."

Ally thought for a minute, chewing on her bottom lip, and then hesitantly shook his head. "No," she whispered. "Like I said, it was dark, and it all happened so fast. I really didn't get a chance to respond."

Booth nodded. What she was saying was consistent with the blood splatter patterns, and the way the crime scene techs had found her room. He frowned, a little disappointment that he had as much to go on now as he had before he'd spoken to her. A few things bothered Booth about the situation; who were the men, and why had they intruded into Bones' home. He knew she had enemies, sure; she'd helped him put countless criminals in prison for murder. But why, after all these years, would one of them come after her and her family? Why not him? He made a mental note to review all of their closed cases and check out if any of those perps had just recently been released for prison. If it appeared that this was the case then he would have to find some place safe for Parker to go. Despite the fact that Parker was grown now, he was still his son. He was the biggest reason Booth had never relocated after Bones had left the Jeffersonian.

"Alright, well you did great kiddo. Why don't you try to rest?" Booth suggested. There was another question nagging at him, but he wasn't sure if he should ask her or not.

"I will after the nurse comes in and leaves again. Have you seen my mom yet? Is she okay?"

"Sorry," Booth's frown deepened a bit. "They won't let me in to see her yet. But I'll get an update on her for you, okay?"

Ally nodded, "Get one on my dad, too, please."

This time it was Booth's turn to swallow a lump. "Sorry kiddo, but we haven't found your dad yet. We're workin on it though, okay? I'll bring him home to you, I promise." A promise that big was against his code of ethics; he knew it, but didn't break a sweat. He was Special Agent Seeley Booth, after all. He was *the* man to have on a case, and he knew it.

Ally slowly nodded and turned away from him again. His words wrenched at her heart; where was her dad? The last time they'd been together they'd fought because he wouldn't let her go to the junior prom with Mason Adams, a senior at her school. That all seemed so trivial now. It *was* trivial now. She'd give it all up just to see her dad home safe again.

"Hey… Ally…" Booth persisted with hesitation, pulling her from her thoughts. "I was wondering… you mentioned something when I saw you earlier…"

"Mm?" Ally turned to look at Booth, a questionable look in her eyes. "What?"

"You mentioned earlier that your mom mentioned me. That she said I would come save her. Do you have any idea why?"

Ally shook her head slowly. "I… I don't really remember what she said in the kitchen. I'm sorry."

Booth sighed and nodded; what was different between now and earlier? Her mind should've been less fuzzy now that the anesthetics from the surgery had pretty much worn off entirely. Or maybe what she'd told him had been a result of the anesthetics playing mind games with her? He was dying to know one way or the other, but he wouldn't push. "Alright, well here's my card," he said, handing her a small white card. "Call me if you need anything at all, day or night, okay?"

"Thank you," Ally said, taking the card from him. She dropped it on the bedside table and rolled forward to relax.

Booth heard the TV turn on as he walked out, the quiet sounds of MTV bidding him farewell.

"I didn't ask you to analyze it, Sweets, I asked you to give me an answer on what it could mean," Booth muttered impatiently. He'd gone to Sweets with what Ally had told him, wanting a straight up answer to what he thought Bones could've meant by her telling Ally that she knew he'd be there to save her.

"Actually, you kinda did, Agent Booth," Sweets responded, leaning back in his chair. He faced Booth, studying the man's composure and reactions. Clearly what Dr. Brennan had supposedly uttered just before she succumbed to her attacker was really gnawing at Booth. Sweets was interested to know why Booth was reacting in such a way after sixteen years. Or rather, he knew why. He was just trying to make sense of it all himself. He'd always enjoyed making a case study out of Booth and Brennan.

"Yeah, yeah, okay whatever you say, Sweets. Can we get back to my question though?"

Sweets leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. "Sometimes we get so used to relying on someone for our safety that the feeling of security we have with that person is irreplaceable, no matter the distance and time between them. In Dr. Brennan's case, she grew to trust you, to care about you as more of a partner, but a friend, and maybe something more…" he trailed. There was no maybe about it, however. "A bond like that is never easily broken."

"Yeah, uh, aren't you forgetting one thing? *She* left *me*. Not the other way around. I mean how does someone just pick up and leave without as much as a goodbye?"

Sweets shrugged. "How did her parents do it to her and her brother? Running is what Dr. Brennan knows, Agent Booth. And lest we not forget you were with Hannah when Dr. Brennan left. Facing her emotions head on like that, it's not something she could do easily, as say you or I could."

"Yeah, yeah…" Booth nodded. It was slowly starting to make sense now. "So you're saying I should go to Bones, bring her home where she belongs then," Booth gathered. "Thanks, Sweets!"

"Uh not exactly, Agent Booth. Dr. Brennan is a married woman now. And uh, you're kind of in charge of locating her missing husband." Sweets furrowed his eyebrows; he was beginning to think maybe Booth shouldn't be working the case, after all. He'd had his doubts when he'd heard about the case, but his doubts were becoming giant road blocks screaming 'NO NO, DO NOT PROCEED' "And she has kids, too," Sweets added. "All I'm trying to do is make you understand why Dr. Brennan left in the first place, Booth."

Booth outwardly groaned. "Sweets you're killin' me here." He enjoyed the theory of bringing her home to him much more.

"Agent Booth, maybe you shouldn't be on this case. I can see now that it might be too much for you. I'm sure we could get you switched around and on to something a little less…personal…for you."

Booth slammed his fists onto the desk at this, and leaned over. In a hushed but firm voice he looked at Sweets and spoke. "Don't even try it, Sweets. This is my case. I can handle this. I want this case."

A bead of sweat rolled from Sweets' forehead and he slowly nodded. The psychologist in him told him not to let Booth proceed. The friend in him told him Booth had to. "Fine," he muttered. "But I want in on this with you. The whole way through, I want in."


End file.
